BATON ROUGE - A proposed pay raise for teachers across the state will be heading to the legislature later this year.

The proposal from Governor John Bel Edwards passed the full education committee in a final vote Wednesday morning and will now be considered in the legislative session beginning April 8. Once there, lawmakers will be able to vote on the measure but cannot change it.

The four-year plan would include a total of $101 million slotted for teacher raises. But first, the governor says he wants to pay a $1,000 raise for public school teachers and a $500 raise for support staff like janitors, cafeteria workers and janitors as a "down payment."

The proposal would additionally call for more money being allocated for books, supplies and in-class technology. 

The governor said the current low salaries for teachers make it difficult to keep educators in the state. He has called for similar measures in the past, but those have failed.